Drain fields are used to dispose of water into the ground. In particular a septic tank drain field takes the relatively “solids” free water called, effluent from the septic tank and distributes it into the soil for final impurity and contaminate removal. The problem is that sludge can build up in the field and over time cause the field to fail. The buildup of sludge can take several years before the field fully fails. However, current methods of opening an inspection port and seeing if there is standing water in the inspection pipe/port only tell you that the field has failed, and do not provide an early warning system. Unfortunately, once a septic system drain field fails, there is little or no recourse but to replace the system at a cost that often exceeds $20K.
Therefore, there continues to be a need for a system of early detection of pending failure so that remediation can be performed to reduce or eliminate the sludge buildup prior to total failure and extend the life of the drain field.